With 25 years of experience in La Jolla’s fine dining world, restauranteurs Rashi Wahidi and Frederick Selchau left corporate America, located a community that needed an upscale yet approachable dining experience, and opened Lemon Grove Bistro.

Executive Chef Rashi has designed menus in San Diego since 2011 and Frederick brings a lifelong passion for hospitality to San Diego from his native Denmark. Both men are passionate about having guests arrive feeling welcome and leave feeling sated and happy.

“We love our location in a historic mission-style building with murals depicting the history of the heart of Lemon Grove,” Wahidi said. Locals might recall this as the location of the Grove Pastry Shop.

“Our cuisine focuses on French, Spanish, Italian, and Greek cuisine,” Wahidi said. He studied in England and with French chefs, where he gained knowledge of cuisine from these regions.

The menu is in the process of changing for the fall season.

“We will change our menu every season, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Right now I’m creating our next menu which will feature root vegetables, and squashes such as butternut squash, lobster bisque, and lobster ravioli. The menu depends on what we can source from Southern California farms within 100 miles,” Wahidi said.

Vegetarians are well considered with menu items such as Zucchini and Yellow Squash Croquette with a roasted pepper caper aioli. Mission Fig Salad and Caprese Salads or a Tomato Basil Soup. Try a Garden burger with a vegetarian patty and chipotle aioli loaded with vegetables. A Grilled Eggplant Panini or Grilled Portobello “steak” sandwich with chimichurri sauce are also offered.

For meat eaters, Beef Bourguignon, a French-style beef stew served with garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes will fill you during cold weather. They also offer a variety of fish and seafood dishes such as pan-seared Scottish Salmon, Fisherman’s Stew, or Grilled Shrimp.

For dessert, save room for a Chocolate Budino (pudding) or Crème Brûlée

Think of Lemon Grove Bistro when you need catering. With their new catering division, they will cater for any occasion, such as weddings, birthdays, family events, corporate luncheons, and receptions, from as little as 10 people to as many as 500.

Located at 3308 Main Street, Lemon Grove, phone number (619) 373-8650. They are open daily from 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. For their current menu go to: https://grovebistro.com.

“Come for the food, stay to experience the inviting ambiance of the historic building and its new garden. Let’s build community–together.”